VisaGreenland residents replacing a lost card should check re-entry before travelling
A replacement residence card and permission to return to Greenland serve different purposes. Official forms also give different instructions about where to submit a re-entry request.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Separate replacement evidence from the planned journey
Foreign residents who lose a Greenland residence card face two separate tasks: replacing residence evidence and checking permission to return after travel. SIRI publishes GL3 for replacement cards and GL4 for re-entry. This guide, checked on 4 November, concerns existing residents rather than first applications.
Prepare the GL3 replacement file
The GL3 instructions require a completed signed form, a passport photograph attached to the personal-data appendix and the relevant supporting evidence. For a lost card, include the police declaration of loss. For a name change, include documentation explaining the change. All evidence must be in Danish or English, with an authorised translation where necessary.
Submit the replacement application personally at a local police station; if in Denmark, the form also permits submission at SIRI branch offices. Present the existing card if available or another photographic identity document if it is lost. The replacement is sent to the stated address in Greenland, making an accurate address essential. Someone staying elsewhere temporarily should resolve the receiving address before submission rather than assuming overseas delivery is included.
Apply for re-entry well before departure
The English GL4 requires personal submission with a valid passport, no later than one month before travel. It covers procedural residence, temporary permit holders without a card and residents who have lost their card. Missing that lead time should prompt contact with the authority; it does not create an urgent service.
GL4 distinguishes a lost-card declaration from a declaration that an issued card never arrived. Report the actual facts and intended travel dates. Its request for addresses in Greenland and abroad helps establish where the applicant will be.
Resolve the difference between the two official receiving instructions
The English SIRI-hosted GL4 directs in-person submission at SIRI branch offices. The Danish GL4 published by Greenland Police allows personal submission to police or SIRI’s citizen centre. Both specify the passport and one-month lead time, but they differ over the receiving-office wording and carry different version identifiers.
Before travelling to an office, ask Greenland Police or SIRI which location can receive the current Greenland application and whether an appointment is required. The police form’s older SIRI street address should not be treated as a verified current receiving address. Neither form establishes a current universal Greenland replacement-card fee or every overseas handling charge. Request the applicable charge and payment method for the specific service, rather than importing a Denmark-only card fee into this Greenland procedure.
Check whether the underlying permit remains usable
The Immigration Service’s Greenland termination guidance explains that permission can lapse if a resident no longer maintains a home in Greenland or remains outside beyond the applicable limit. Time in Denmark or the Faroe Islands counts as time outside Greenland for this purpose. Losing the plastic card and losing the underlying right of residence are therefore different issues.
Where permission has lapsed, the guidance says a new residence application is needed under the rules then in force; the grounds for the original grant are not decisive. It also warns that an invalid passport can prevent an extension case from proceeding until renewed travel documentation is obtained. A replacement card request should not be used to conceal an expired passport or an extended absence. Tell the authority both facts when asking about return. Keep a record of departure and return dates when discussing absences.
Check the countries used for the route
The Greenland government’s travel guidance says a Greenland residence permit does not give a foreign national the right to reside in Denmark. It also distinguishes Greenland from Schengen visa permission. A journey via Copenhagen or another transit point therefore needs its own document check, in addition to permission to return to Greenland. The resources reviewed do not establish an individual approval date or confirm that a particular transit itinerary is authorised; settle those points before making non-refundable travel arrangements.
